Parables of Jesus Overview
In a moment where so many voices compete for our attention, we believe the call for our church is to “double down on Jesus.” Throughout this fall, before and after the Holy Spirit Conference, we will journey through the Kingdom parables of Jesus — stories that reveal what life in the Kingdom of God truly looks like.
(Vincent van Gogh, Sower with Setting Sun, 1888)
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We will journey through some of the parables of Jesus, allowing them to give us a window into the kingdom of God.
The series runs from September 13 through November 22, the Sunday before Advent begins.
This series also overlaps with Holy Spirit Conference that runs October 24-26.
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There is a mystery to Jesus’ Upside-Down Kingdom. The invitation of Jesus is to embrace the mystery of kingdom power dynamics and paradigms
Parables are stories that reveal what life in the Kingdom of God truly looks like. These teachings invite us to slow down, listen again to the voice of Jesus, and allow our hearts, souls, minds, and strength to be stirred by His presence and truth.
The parables in their context were a coded retelling of Israel’s own story. In them the question is put to Israel: Will you recognize that God's kingdom is arriving right now, in Jesus, and reorient around it? And the question comes to us in our 21-century US American context, which is very different than that of first century Israel, even if the same God is still bringing the same kind of kingdom: Will you recognize and reorient your lives?
The parables help us grasp how to live in the kingdom. Even more, several of them also give us glimpses of where the story is heading: God's future breaking backward into the present, so that what's coming is already taking root now.
Our prayer is that this series would not simply increase information but lead to deeper transformation as we become people who are awake to the Kingdom of God and ready for all He desires to do in and through His Church.
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9/13 – Matt 13:10-17
Why parables?
Theme: The Mystery of Jesus’ Upside-Down Kingdom
Focus: Embracing the mystery of Kingdom power dynamics and paradigms
9/20 – Matt 13:1-23
Parable of the Sower
Theme: Receiving the Kingdom
Focus: The condition of our hearts and rhythms of our lives influence how we receive and respond to the Kingdom breaking in.
9/27 – Matt 13:24-30, 36-43
Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
Theme: Showing up as Kingdom Agents of shalom and justice
Focus: Jesus partners with us to bring healing to our world.
10/4 – Matt 13:31-33
Parables of the Mustard Seed and Yeast/Leaven
Theme: Stir Hope! The Kingdom is still already and not yet!
Focus: Kingdom has come and is still coming. God is still here and still at work. And if you don’t see it yet… It’s coming!”
10/11 – Matt 13:44-46
Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price
Theme: The Kingdom Is Worth going ALL IN
Focus: Encountering the Kingdom reprioritizes what we value and pursue.
Note: Combined Viña-Westerville Service
10/18 – Matt 25:-30
Parable of the Talents
Theme: Kingdom Stewardship
Focus: In the Kingdom, we hold and use our “stuff” differently.
10/25 – Matt 9:16-17 or Luke 5:31-39
Parable of New Wine and New Wineskins
Theme: Recalibrating our Expectations and holding Preferences loosely
Focus: In the Kingdom, the vehicle serves the vision. The method serves the message.
Note: HSC Conference Weekend; Todd Hunter preaching
11/1 – Matt 20:1-16
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
Theme: God’s Grace
Focus: God’s grace disrupts comparison, entitlement, performance, and transactional paradigms.
11/9 – Matt 18:21-25
Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor
Theme: Forgiveness
Focus: What gives fallen, fallible human beings the power, the strength to extend grace to someone who doesn't deserve it is the firsthand experience of being released from a mountain of moral debt in the eyes of a just and holy God.
11/5 – Luke 15
Parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Prodigal Son
Theme: The Kingdom Priority
Focus: Lost people still really matter to God... even if they don’t think they’re lost… so they should matter to us.
11/22 – Matt 22:1-14
Parable of the Wedding Banquet
Theme: Kingdom mission and invitation
Focus: To whom am I called to invite to the Table?
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9/6 - 9/13: 24-7 Global Week of Prayer
9/19: Small Group Leader Training
10/18: Combined Viña-Westerville Sunday Service
10/23-10/25: Holy Spirit Conference
Early November (TBA): SGL Gathering
Late-November (TBA): Christmas Decorating Party
11/26: Thanksgiving Day (and Gregg’s BD!)
11/29: Advent begins
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Coming soon!